One From the Crate: Bicep

Not a new release by any stretch of the imagination, the Satisfy remixes have been knocking around Dublin since 2014. Bicep should need no introduction for those with any interest in edm, but for those who haven’t felt, Bicep are Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar, both hailing from Belfast.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of listening to the duo before, this isn’t a bad place to start – despite being comprised entirely of remixes. The record sees John Talabot (of ƒIN fame) and Brassica (Man is Deaf) put their own spin on 2013’s Satisfy. The original, renowned for its innovative blend of disco into house is heard only sparsely with vocals stripped away and instrumentation peeled back by both guest artists.

The result is quick, clean and super chill.

Brassica takes the A side, setting down 90 beats per minute and keeping closer to a strictly house feel than the Bicep boys. The sound is harsher than Talabot’s take with what sounds like an audible influence from Ratatat and their use of synthesised strings.

Talabot opts for more of a deep house feel sticking around 125 beats per minute throughout. The sound here is clean and rudimental with very little embellishment and just enough influence from the original tune to keep the connection there. There’s a little bit of bounce to as if winds its way along, but not overly so.

This is the third self-released record under the FEEL MY BICEP label, what you get for your money is one 180gm black vinyl record with a single track on each side. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of copies of this floating around in Dublin at the moment, but you can find it for as little as a fiver plus postage on Discogs. Pick this up if you’re looking to impress a few mates who are into the genre or you want something nice and chill to keep people moving at a session. Your only problem will be that it leaves you wanting more.

Bicep
Satisfy Remixes
2014
Feel my Bicep

A – Brassica Remix
AA – John Talabot Rain Remix

With the vinyl revival on the up, ‘One from the Crate’ highlights releases from the Irish artists putting out their stuff on black and white. Many of these releases are self-published or are put out through small independent labels and can be hard to find. There’s no list to work off, just lucky finds in Dublin’s record shops. Think there’s something we should be listening to? Let us know. Email sean@toastyoak.ie

Seán O’Reilly, Editor
This article originally appeared in Vol. 29, Issue 3 published October 27th 2015